C A P I C O S T I A

  "... Jair Lynch  has set his sights on reviving the long-struggling Penn Branch Shopping Center in Southeast D.C., a site some nearby residents view as an important cog in the revitalization of the larger Pennsylvania Avenue retail corridor connecting downtown with the District’s East of the River communities...it could serve as a catalyst for a larger revitalization of the surrounding communities of Penn Branch, Hillcrest and Randle Highlands.... “We’re really trying to bring outside developers to the area to see if they have an interest in redeveloping or enhancing commercial properties in the corridor,” Robinson said. “We see ourselves as a mechanism, or in some cases even starting that conversation. There has to be somebody who takes these issues by the horns and has everybody sitting around the table to solve them.” Robinson, a planner for the town of Forest Heights in Prince George’s County, said an important factor will be getting buy-in from other Ward 7 residents. S...

by Mel Dyer Time-travel! Of all the great super-powers I can dream of waking up with, THAT is the one that I would find most useful, ..for awhile. If only I could turn back time... If I could turn back time, every time I was about to eat something sweet, buttery, fried or fatty, ..I would just pop myself back there and knock it out of my pudgy, little hands! If only I could go back in time ..and avert the cosmic disaster of my ever becoming  fat. Seriously, ..no slice of cheesecake (my favorite), pile of Doritos, cup of coffee (my second religion), steak, ribs, Mama's spaghetti, Daddy's Dungeness crabs, a pizza, an enchilada, soul food (ALL of it) - none of it is worth the crapload of misery that comes from touching these things. I would send every morsel back to the kitchens. If you're feeding your kids this stuff, before they even know what a good life, in a fit, attractive body, has to offer them, may God have mercy on your souls... Especially, if you're f...

"... Jair Lynch  has set his sights on reviving the long-struggling Penn Branch Shopping Center in Southeast D.C., a site some nearby residents view as an important cog in the revitalization of the larger Pennsylvania Avenue retail corridor connecting downtown with the District’s East of the River communities...it could serve as a catalyst for a larger revitalization of the surrounding communities of Penn Branch, Hillcrest and Randle Highlands.... “We’re really trying to bring outside developers to the area to see if they have an interest in redeveloping or enhancing commercial properties in the corridor,” Robinson said. “We see ourselves as a mechanism, or in some cases even starting that conversation. There has to be somebody who takes these issues by the horns and has everybody sitting around the table to solve them.” Robinson, a planner for the town of Forest Heights in Prince George’s County, said an important factor will be getting buy-in from other Ward 7 residents. Some ...

There're a lot of empty living rooms in Silver Spring. (Photo from ZedsCafe.com)   I like coffee, and THIS is the BEST COFFEE in the entire WESTERN WORLD! I wrote a review of Zed's Café and One Big Living Room, many years ago, on a now defunct WordPress blog, and I might have described little else, but, the coffee, ..which is phenomenal. So, this time, while there is much to praise about this legend of Silver Spring hospitality, I don't want to diminish that one, indisputable fact. Phenomenal coffee! Go anywhere else, where you are poured a cup of coffee, and the quality of the coffee that you will find at Zed's Café will surpass it, every time and at every hour of the day. How does proprietor, Zed Mekonnen, do it? He has a gold standard. Zed's Café, in Downtown Silver Spring, delivers the promise of what a cafe serves, coffee, and that standard is never compromised. Ever. The quality of the coffee - a cup of Nirvana, every time - and the paninis and ...

Penn Branch may be a little behind the times and short on modern amenities, but we got cars. We can drive, wherever we like. A major coffee retailer, with a name that sounds something like 'War-bucks' , will NOT be coming to Penn Branch or anywhere else in Southeast Washington, D.C. in the Fall of 2011, ..and if you read differently here, and this is a little bit of a letdown for you, I hope you aren't taking the truth too hard. Bummer, huh? It was all a big April Fool's gag , courtesy of yours truly. It might be a bitter pill to swallow, but, eventually, we're going to have to swallow it, my friends. The market research for this area (for reasons I won't get into here) is so terrible and nearly impossible to compile, that we are commercially invisible. Besides groceries, gasoline, liquor and a few other things, no retailer can determine, with any measure of certainty, what we are or aren't buying in Southeast or anywhere else, and, without the ...

Happy Turkey Day, Washington, D.C. (from Tenor.com )   For all of you, who're working so hard to make this holiday something special - in your kitchens, stuck in holiday traffic or sweating it out in the diners and big-box stores - for everything you're putting up with, out there, while the rest of us stuff our faces with turkey and Soul-style macaroni and cheese, thank you. God bless you... And Happy Thanksgiving. Mel of Seven Bee

  Seven Bee's Laughing Airman, ..my Uncle Stanley!   In his life, he was a warrior - a veteran of the Viet Nam War - a scholar and an artist, and he was always there for the people he cared about, when they needed them.  In the 1970s and 80s, he worked, side by side, with a Penn Brancher of long-standing - the late Mrs. Barbara Jean Harvey - in D.C.'s Department of Mental Health, bringing economically challenged citizens closer to the psychiatric care and social services that they so desperately needed to live. After living half of his life in Northwest Washington, he eventually settled into a small house in Marshall Heights and frequently visited us - me, his nephew, his niece, his sister (my mother) and our Coyote-hatin' Goldiweiller, Kirby [RIP] - and we will always remember how much laughter and wisdom he brought us, ..right here in the Naylor Duponts.   I think this photo captures the enduring pluck and ambi...

Just another day in that fabled, urban war-zone...Anacostia? So scary. Stay away.   Who do we think we are? There are perfectly sensible people living along Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Sousa Bridge and the Southern Avenue D.C. State Line - in Naylor Dupont, ANC-7B - who think that they live in as colorful a scattering of socially and politically diverse neighborhoods, as to be found, anywhere else in Washington. They think they live in neighborhoods, called  Greenway, Penn Branch, Fairfax Village, Hillcrest and Skyland , ..in spite of the fact that so many Washingtonians, west of the Anacostia River, persist in dismissively referring to these neighborhoods, as .. 'Anacostia'. There are people living on exclusive Westover Drive, secluded in the emerald majesty of historic Fort Davis Park, where Ohio Representative, Dennis Kusinich, presently resides, who are so removed from the fabled, urban grit of Southeast Washington...t...

There're a lot of empty living rooms in Silver Spring. (Photo from ZedsCafe.com) I like coffee, and THIS is the BEST COFFEE in the entire WESTERN WORLD! I wrote a review of Zed's Café and One Big Living Room, many years ago, on a now defunct WordPress blog, and I might have described little else, but, the coffee, ..which is phenomenal. So, this time, while there is much to praise about this legend of Silver Spring hospitality, I don't want to diminish that one, indisputable fact. Phenomenal coffee! Go anywhere else, where you are poured a cup of coffee, and the quality of the coffee that you will find at Zed's Café will surpass it, every time and at every hour of the day. How does proprietor, Zed Mekonnen, do it? He has a gold standard. Zed's Café, in Downtown Silver Spring, delivers the promise of what a cafe serves, coffee, and that standard is never compromised. Ever. The quality of the coffee - a cup of Nirvana, every time - and the paninis a...

Bring rakes. Bring bottled water. Bring lawnmowers...and, for God'sake, bring your KIDS. Give our young Penn Branchers a sense of pride and purpose, the foundation for true self esteem, by enlisting them in the work of keeping our neighborhood clean and beautiful, ..and they will appreciate, as much as we do, what a special place Penn Branch is to all of us. They have a right to feel proud of where they live ..and the hard work it takes to keep Penn Branch worthy of that pride. I grew up in Penn Branch, ..and I am still very, very proud of that. Bring your kids to Memorial Park Spring Clean-up. God bless all of you.

Fighting racial fanaticism on TWO fronts, while honorably serving our nation in World War II, and THEY never gave up. Their proud standard has been cast in blood, sweat and hope. We are still here, because they never gave up. Neither can we...

Marcus Garvey believed 'We can', before President Obama. [photo from 'The Guardian']   Baltimore City, Maryland has problems. Big problems. If you have been watching the news or reading the paper, over the past day or so, you may be wondering how Baltimore's government and the people, who live there, will ever solve them. Mixed in with the problems that government CAN solve in Baltimore, ..the disenfranchised young residents, burning everything down, over there, have problems that the government and the mayor cannot solve, even with billions of dollars investment in ..and subsequent development of their communities. Government can give tax incentives to entrepreneurs, who open businesses in the economically depressed communities, where many of us live. The Prince George's County Economic Development Corporation is offering expedition of permits, tax abatements and workforce assistance to people, starting new businesses in depressed areas of Hy...

  Capicostia's Laughing Airman, ..my Uncle Stanley!   In his life, he was a warrior - a veteran of the Viet Nam War - a scholar and an artist, and he was always there for the people he cared about, when they needed them.  In the 1970s and 80s, he worked, side by side, with a Penn Brancher of long-standing - the late Mrs. Barbara Jean Harvey - in D.C.'s Department of Mental Health, bringing economically challenged citizens closer to the psychiatric care and social services that they so desperately needed to live. After living half of his life in Northwest Washington, he eventually settled into a small house in Marshall Heights and frequently visited us - his nephew, niece, his sister (my mother) and our Coyote-hatin' Goldiweiller, Kirby - and we will always remember how much laughter and wisdom he brought us, right here in the Naylor Duponts.   I think this photo captures the enduring pluck and ambition of the gener...

It looks like another major coffee retailer - this one, named for a famous metropolis in the American northwest - will be setting up shop in quaintly middle-class Penn Branch (Washington, D.C.) in October 2015. A reliable source tells Capicostia that the world-famous coffee giant's Penn Branch store will be located between PB Center’s old, broken down escalators and the H&R Block, in a space that will soon be vacated, by Beltway Beauty and Barber Supply  - that's just four doors down from the CVS Pharmacy . See you in October. Mel Dyer

Penn Branch may be a little behind the times and short on modern amenities, but we got cars. We can drive, wherever we like. A major coffee retailer, with a name that sounds something like 'War-bucks' , will NOT be coming to Penn Branch or anywhere else in Southeast Washington, D.C. in the Fall of 2011, ..and if you read differently here, and this is a little bit of a letdown for you, I hope you aren't taking the truth too hard. Bummer, huh? It was all a big April Fool's gag , courtesy of yours truly. It might be a bitter pill to swallow, but, eventually, we're going to have to swallow it, my friends. The market research for this area (for reasons I won't get into here) is so terrible and nearly impossible to compile, that we are commercially invisible. Besides groceries, gasoline, liquor and a few other things, no retailer can determine, with any measure of certainty, what we are or aren't buying in Southeast or anywhere else, and, without the assura...

A major coffee retailer, with a name that sounds something like 'War-bucks' , will be coming to quietly middle-class Penn Branch (Washington, D.C.) in August 2011, and it looks like they may already be hiring. One of Capicostia’ s many routine googlings of ‘retail coffee southeast Washington dc’ produced an employment notice posted for a new “Hillcrest” store here . A reliable source tells Capicostia that the world-famous coffee giant's Penn Branch store will be located between PB Center’s old, broken down escalators and the nail salon, in what used to be a High’s Ice Cream store ..and two doors down from the CVS Pharmacy . Considering that Big Chair Coffee (with GRRREAT coffee and eats) on Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue is roaring into its second year in the River East area, this new coffehouse, while long wished for by many area residents, will not be the first of its kind to cross the Anacostia. And the commercial development revolution in Old Southeast continues un...

There's nothing worse than having a sick animal friend or pet in your home, who is ill and cannot speak for itself. It's a helpless feeling, and you want to get your pet to someone, who can help them, as quickly and easily as you can. For Capicostia, that doesn't mean popping over to Capitol Hill, Old Anacostia or Northwest D.C., where you know there'll be no parking. It probably means hauling your pets out to Maryland's P.G. County, where parking and lots of space for it is practically guaranteed. That's how I found the Forestville Vetinary and Bird Hospital . It is located on Marboro Pike, right around the corner from the Penn Mar Shopping Center on Donnell Drive, in District Heights, Maryland, ..and it's got more than just convenient parking. FVBH is headed up by Ukraine-educated vetinarian and animal friend-spirit, Dr. Abdoul Diarra , and a caring staff of vetinary students, pet grooming and kennel professionals and vetinary technicians. Rest assu...

(Yahoo! News) "Radio host Rush Limbaugh poked fun at Michelle Obama's waistline Monday; the latest entry in a string of conservative attacks on the First Lady's anti-obesity campaign. During his show yesterday, Limbaugh pounced on a report that the Obama family (minus the president) had dined on ribs while vacationing in Vail, Colo.: The problem is -- and dare I say this -- it doesn't look like Michelle Obama follows her own nutritionary, dietary ..." Can somebody tell me what in the hell this guy is talking about? What are 'First Lady' and 'swimsuit model' even doing in the same sentence, ..without mind-warping drugs that make you bounce up and down at CPAC being involved? There was a time, some twenty years ago, when my late granduncle and I (listening to Limbaugh's show on tape) were occasionally awakened to something sensible or even clever from Rush Limbaugh's radio program. Something about integrity and the patriotic dignity of i...

(Developmentally-Speaking.com) "“The TV is too loud!" "Turn it down!” “Turn it down some more!” “Turn it WAY down!” Ok. Now I can barely hear the TV, and am straining my ears to the point of getting a headache. But if I don’t turn it down, then I will hear the crying; loud cursing-like-a-sailor; banging on walls; stomping across the floor; banging doors; and maybe stomping down the stairs; then the glaring, unrecognizably large spirited eyes—all to demonstrate extreme..." Read more here